Game Change Portrayal of Palin Foreshadows Her Later Behavior

Game Change, the HBO film about 2008 presidential election campaign, won't change many minds about the little known Alaskan governor picked by John McCain to be his running mate.

Many people made up their minds a long time ago that Sarah Palin was woefully unprepared to become president. And in the ensuing three and a half years, a lot more have soured on her.

There certainly were some moments in the film when Palin was portrayed sympathetically -- missing her baby, talking to her deployed son as he left on a mission, dealing with a pregnant teen daughter.

But the context of what Palin has done in the time since the campaign supports the overall portrait of her that emerges in the film -- someone with great political skills but who is unwilling to do the hard work necessary to be the leader of a government, someone who seems to connect with average voters but who is ultimately obsessed with herself. The film is sort of a prequel to Palin's later actions.

Seeing Palin portrayed on the screen refusing to prep for her media interviews or debate brought to mind her decision to step down as governor of Alaska after the campaign was over.

Listening to her obsess about her poll numbers in Alaska during the midst of the national campaign and trying to hog the limelight by delivering her own concession speech on election night was a reminder of her ham-handed response to the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Palin made herself out as the victim, calling it a "blood libel" that people suggested Palin's use of a gun site to designate Giffords' district as a high priority for Republicans contributed to a climate of violent political rhetoric.

In short, Palin's actions after the campaign confirmed many of her flaws showcased in the film. Sure, McCain aide Steve Schmidt and others take a lot of the blame for the decision to pick Palin and the way she was vetted for the job, but the way Palin reacted after joining the ticket is all her own doing.

It could have been a brilliant pick, but at the end of the day Palin could not make it work.

Local Media Stiffs U.S. Senator, Gushes Over Celebrity

The U.S. Senate has been called the most exclusive club in the world -- only 100 people. They wield considerably more power than the 435 members of the U.S. House. They have the power to ratify treaties with our nations that can affect the global balance of power, deployment of our military might, the balance of trade, and the future of our climate. They say yes or no to presidential choices to head cabinet agencies or represent our nation abroad. They determine who will sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, with its broad powers to interpret the law of the land. And with the filibuster, and the ability of just 40 of them to block legislation, they have more than an equal say in the passage of legislation.

So you would think that when one of the members of this powerful body stops by Livingston County, it would be news. You would think that with health care hanging in the balance, climate change and clean energy legislation on the horizon, debate rising over U.S. policy in Afghanistan, and the recent horrific shooting at a military base still fresh, that a newspaper would want to find out what the U.S. senator thinks about such matters.

But, in the case of the Livingston Press and Argus, you would be wrong. The newspaper couldn't be bothered to rearrange its schedule when Sen. Carl Levin stopped in Livingston County to salute our veterans on Saturday, Nov. 7. What they missed was Senator Levin publicly answering any and all questions on matters such as health care, in public, without reservations.

Yet when a defeated Republican vice presidential candidate, whose campaign fled the state in humiliation a year ago rather than try to compete for Michiganians' votes, who abandoned the post of governor of Alaska that she campaigned for, shows up clear across the state to sell books in order to line her own pockets -- the Livingston Press and Argus thinks that is big news.

This is not the first time that the local newspaper has snubbed Senator Levin. It did the same in October 2008. Democrat or Republican, he still represents the state.

Onw wonders who sets the agenda for reporting at the Livingston Press and Argus -- and exactly what their agenda is. It certainly is not covering the news fairly.

Palin Kicks Grass-roots Volunteers in the Teeth

As national political pundits try to figure out the "strategy" behind Sarah Palin's decision to quit her job as governor of Alaska, I can't help but think of the people who put her in the job in the first place.

Not just the people who voted for her, but the grass-roots volunteers, the people who gave up their weekends and evenings to knock on doors and make phone calls, for nothing, because they believed in Sarah Palin.

What a kick in the teeth it must be for them to know that the candidate they believed in and worked so hard for got tired of the job and quit.

I'd bet her name is mud with them. And their opinion counts a lot more than the pundits.

Palin -- Like a Student Who Never Read the Book

Watching Sarah Palin try to debate Sen. Joe Biden during the vice presidential debate Thursday night (Oct. 2, 2008) must have had a familiar ring to a lot of teachers in the audience.

Wasn't it just like a student writing a review of a book she never read?

At least students try to be a little subtle about it. They don't usually note that they don't want to answer the question that the teacher asked and then try to fake it. They know that's a failing grade right off the bat. They usually just try to fake it by writing about something they do know something about and hope their phony rhetoric will carry the day.

Palin didn't even give the moderator, Gwen Ifill, that courtesy. Several times she flat out said she wouldn't answer the question and instead trotted out the lines she memorized the last few days alongside the creek in Sedona. Ifill was way too tolerant of that kind of behavior. She would have been within her rights to press a little harder for an answer since Palin did agree to the debate format, which entailed answering questions from a moderator.

I never thought Palin would fall totally flat, but the question remains why she did not. The questions in a debate are fairly predictable -- Iraq, Iran, the economy, health care. Palin could be prepped for those. Interviews are a little harder to prep for. No one thought Palin would be asked such tough questions as what newspapers do you read, what Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with, and so on. No one thought to prep her for those.

No one thought they had to, either.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden performed not like a student giving a review of a book he had actually read. He performed more like the guy who wrote the book.

He was a class act from start to finish, not condescending, just knowledgeable, mostly ignoring Palin and going after John McCain's record and policies.

Joe Biden will be an outstanding vice president.

How to Watch Tonight's VP Debate

Watching the vice presidential debate tonight (Oct. 2, 2008) between Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, and Republican Sarah Palin takes a little preparation, almost as much as watching your favorite game on the weekend.

First of all, you need to watch the debate with friends -- like fellow Obama-Biden supporters at Memories Lounge (1840 S. Old U.S. 23, Brighton). Supporters will gather there beginning around 7 p.m. and will be invited to make calls to undecided voters.

Then, you need to know what to watch for. We already know that Joe Biden will do a great job. Expectations for Palin range from the McCain spin (if she shows up with a pulse and speaks in complete sentences most of the time, she wins) to the Obama camp's belief that she will do as well as she did in her gubernatorial debates in Alaska, which was pretty good according to the clips that are all over the Web.

There's no reason to think Palin won't do at least as well as she did in those gubernatorial sessions. She does, after all, have a college degree, experience as a broadcaster, and experience as a political speaker. And she has spent three solid days practicing by that creek in Sedona, Arizona.

Personally, I don't expect her to crash and burn. Instead, I expect that she will be glib, but general, filling her answers with a few phrases that she will repeat over and over. These will include "the surge is working," "country first," "maverick," and so on.

To a casual viewer, she will sound OK. But for voters look for a reason to support her, she will be short on specifics about our nation's challenges and how McCain will address them.

That's where she will fail and that's why McCain-Palin will come up short in November.

Don't Insult Granholm!

People have said a lot of hurtful things about our Gov. Jennifer Granholm, but veteran Lansing political reporter Tim Skubick wrote one of the worst ones yet. He compared her to Sarah Palin.

Michigan Liberal has the story, including this quotation from Timmy:

"In this puff piece of a book, author Kaylene Johnson describes Palin as able to connect with people. She has a fierce tenacity and a strong religious faith, which includes quoting Bible verses. Palin is highly competitive, a tireless campaigner and has been questioned about having kids and being a high-ranking official at the same time.

"Now be honest, is that not Jennifer Granholm to a 'T'?"

Skubick was stll calling all women "Dear" the last time I talked to him, so it's not surprising that his comparison of two women with such extremely different political views would be so shallow.

But this business that Sarah Palin is such a groundbreaker for having children and a career at the same time really gets to me. Liberal women have been doing that for years, and suffering the sneers of conservatives all the while that we should stay home and take care of our kids so the "more qualified" men could have the jobs we were excelling at.

Sarah Palin and her ilk preach that same gospel to other conservatives, and then feel free themselves to follow the footsteps of liberal women wherever they themselves want to go. And they are cheered on by other conservatives. Phyllis Schlafly did the same thing.

Sarah Palin gets no bonus points for having kids and a job as far as I'm concerned. The hard work of breaking ground for women was done by others long ago, over the objections of women like Palin. And many women with children are working out of the limelight, without the salary and perks of a governor (including being paid per diem by the taxpayers to sleep in her own bed at night).

I can't imagine Palin having any empathy for those other working women, but I can imagine Granholm empathizing with those of us who have raised families while holding down a job. I can imagine Granhold pursuing policies that would help working women. I can't imagine Palin doing that, in my wildest dreams.

Palin's Pork Bill $500 Per Person, Helping Put Alaska Far Above Michigan in Federal Aid

Ever wonder where all your federal taxes go?

In the case of Michigan residents, lots of the taxes we pay to Uncle Sam end up in the pockets of Sarah Palin's constituents.

According to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, Michigan ranks 44th among the 50 states in per capita federal dollars returned to the state.

Palin's Alaska ranks third in the nation.

It's not like Alaska really needs the money. With gas at $4 a gallon, the state is sucking plenty of money from Michigan residents directly, without even counting federal funds.

And the CRC accounting does not include the millions in federal earmarks that Palin asked for when she was mayor of Wasilla.

According to CNN, she sought $27 million as mayor of Wasilla. And as governor, she has asked for $500 in earmarks for every single residents of Alaska. And guess whose pockets that will come out of.

Not bad for somebody who claims to be against earmarks.

So How Do They REALLY Feel About Palin?

The last two weeks we've seen plenty of political consultants show up on television and gush about whatever is going on at the convention. More than once, you've probably wondered if they really believed what they were saying.

Thanks to the marvel of open mics, we now know how two Republican consultants -- Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan -- really feel about John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

They think it was B.S.

Watch it below:



Murphy, of course, is the political consultant who engineered John Engler's gubernatorial victories in Michigan.

I wonder how Michigan residents felt watching Palin's speech, especially the part about Alaska having a budget surplus and rebating oil and gas profits back to Alaska taxpayers.

Where does she think that money came from? Right out of the hides of Michigan workers, of course. While Michigan motorists struggle to pay for $4 gas, Alaska residents are rolling in dough and bragging about how easy it is to balance the state budget. She wants to drill in the fragile Alaska National Wildife Refuge, which even John McCain opposes, even though it would bring down the price of gas at most a few pennies. Alaska, of course, would rake in even more money as the nation continued to be hooked on a dwindling resource that will only become increasingly expensive.

Later in the speech, Palin made an appeal to Michigan workers struggling to keep their jobs. How does keeping the economy tied to a 20th century energy source help Michigan autoworkers keep their jobs? It doesn't. It only makes oil companies -- and Alaska -- richer at the expense of the rest of us and delays the day when we switch to alternatives.

She's NOT Making History!

Sarah Palin is a little behind on current events, judging from the email she's sending out to her new supporters.

It is titled "Honored to Make History." Except she's not.

Palin is not the first woman nominated for the vice presidency by a major political party. Democrats did it with Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.

So it's pretty amazing that Palin would claim she is in any way "making history" when Republicans finally find a woman they can stand to put on their ticket -- 24 years after the Democrats did it.

(Thanks to the person who forwarded that email to me.)

Even Local Republicans Say Palin is a Ploy

This from Saul in St. Paul:

"Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the talk of the GOP Convention. She has reinvigorated the campaign and we need to keep this energy going in Michigan. Please help me tell our Republican activists about Governor Palin by making an online contribution today.

"I have never seen so much excitement around a candidate’s pick of running mate that (sic) what’s going on here at in St. Paul over Senator McCain’s selection of Governor Palin."

I'll bet there's a lot of talk in St. Paul about Palin. And I wonder if Saul Anuzis, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party, is confusing "reinvigoration" with turmoil and screams of dismay with "excitement."

How do I know Republicans might be a little upset with McCain's surprise decision to put Palin on the ticket? Livinston County Republicans were bold enough to put the statement in print, via the Livingston Press and Argus on Sunday (August 31, 2008):

"Bill Rogers, chairman of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners and a Republican candidate for the state House, was skeptical of the pick and would have preferred someone with more of a business background, such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"'To me, this is all a political ploy,' Rogers said. 'They're going to say she's a novice, which then we ... see that the (Democratic) presidential hopeful is a novice, so it kind of killed that argument.'"

Yes, it certainly did. When the person your party wants to put a heartbeat away from the presidency was mayor of a town less than half the size of Brighton 18 months ago, it really kills the argument that a U.S. senator is a novice.

For another local view of the pick, check out Conservative Media's piece.

But the really interesting thing about Anuzis' statement is the comment that Palin's pick has "reinvigorated" the campaign. I didn't know it was in need of reinvigorating. According to Saul, things have been going swimmingly all along, except for that need to pay "volunteers" 10 percent of the money they raise for McCain that he floated a few weeks ago. And I really doubt people in Michigan are all that fired up for a mayor from Alaska when they could have had the Romney name on the ticket.

Speaking of Romney, I would like to have been a fly on the wall when Romney got the call that it wasn't him and it was Palin instead.

At this point, no one should say that Palin is another Dan Quayle. We don't know enough about her. I'm sure she is a loving mother to her five children and that she is rapidly learning how to be the governor of a small state. But the way this decision was made -- after meeting McCain casually once at a meeting and then receiving a phone call on Sunday in which she was offered the job -- says a lot about the random way McCain makes decisions. You can't get hired at most jobs after just one interview.

P.S. Thanks to the friend who let me know about Anuzis' email.